Published arbitration determinations

The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Act 2010 (CACS Act) removes the access dispute provisions from the Trade Practices Act 1974(TPA) from 1 January 2011. However, the transitional provisions of the CACS Act provide that a party may still notify an access dispute to the ACCC in relation to a declared service until a final access determination is made in relation to the declared service.

The ACCC may decide to publish an interim or final determination that it has made in an arbitration. A statement of reasons for the determination may also be published.

The TPA requires that where the ACCC proposes to publish a determination the ACCC must consult with the parties to that arbitration. Each party has 14 days to provide a written submission identifying any parts that should not be published along with the party’s reasons for that view.

The legislation also provides that when making its decision to publish a determination the ACCC must consider:

submissions from the parties

whether publication would be likely to promote competition in markets for listed carriage services

whether publication would be likely to facilitate the operation of Part XIC of the Act, and